And the valleys shall ring!

I've just heard today that I've been selected to sing at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen this year.

Highly over-excited about this now, not to say more than a little nervous. However, I have a repertoire, I have a voice. I reckon I can probably hold my own and it will be such an amazing experience just trying.

This appeals greatly to the bit of welsh that's in me. Just hoping that they won't expect any Welsh-language singing. Italian, French, German - even the odd smattering of Czech: all great. Welsh is simply a clearing of the throat...

Mamma mia!

I'm supposed to be finishing some work stuff off but have found my mind (and browsing fingers) wandering.

On the upside, I have found potentially the funniest film I've seen in a while, though.

Running all over the... track

Number One Son, my sister-in-law Lesley and I ran the Sport Relief mile today. We had great fun and the weather was very, very kind to us! A good way to spend a morning.

Was really proud of all of us, but particularly of my boy, who just kept chugging along, didn't stop once and only asked a couple of times if he could have a drink!

All in aid of charity, of course, so if you want to donate to the cause, go to www.mysportrelief.com/therhodesteam

Going the distance

Having played around a little bit, trying to get into running over the last couple of years, I think that I'm finally getting the hang of it. This has been helped by Number One Son wanting to do the Sport Relief Mile and so it's given me a goal to work towards. Not as big as the one my sister-in-law has taken on, which is the Sport Relief SIX miles.... Mad.

Really enjoying running, though, and a mile doesn't feel like much at all now. Will look for something longer soon, as the next step up. Looking forward to getting better at it!

Time to get a grip

Have been exploring the world of Twitter over the last couple of days. Not sure how we're going to get on but we're having a bit of a trial period, to get used to each other.

What I hadn't expected was to stumble across the most heart- and gut-wrenching story from across the world on only my second day on the site. I've been a bit grumblesome today, what with one thing and another, but this has made me sit up and remember just how blessed I am. Am furiously thanking God for everything he's given me. And also thinking of this amazing, strong, brave family who've just lost their little girl.

And they say there's nothing in genetics

Number one son has just been confirmed as the latest in a long line of severely colourblind blokes in my family. It's all my fault, as the women generally carry and pass on the gene without having to cope with the not-so-fringe benefits.

However the added and unexpected extra result of the sight test he had to do is that he's also long-sighted. Glasses arrived yesterday and very suave he looks, too.

No farm no good!

Ok. So it was a good job that we checked. The Cotswold Farm Park was shut last week so we went to London instead and missed the snow! We were pretty proud of our superlative efforts on the museum front -we got in a bit of each of the V&A, Natural History Museum and Science Museum!

We even went to see the Queen at Buckingham Palace and waved and everything. She didn't wave back, though....



Then Sunday saw us going down to Surrey to Joshua's baptism. Dave and Pam are old friends from uni and it was so lovely to meet their little boy and his amazing cheeks!

Lemon and sugar

Well, it's half term and the lemon is that I'm working most of the week. The sugar is that the boys and Mike are having great fun doing boys' stuff, uninterrupted by my pesky female slant on things.

We're all off on Thursday and Friday and will be making a trip to the Cotswold Farm Park, which we're all looking forward to. Then we'll get the boys on their bikes on Friday. Should be interesting....

It's Shrove Tuesday today and, ever ones to follow a good tradition where food's concerned, we've done the whole pancake thing. I made quite a lot, it's fair to say. I limited myself to two and Number Two Son had a little bit of my second, preferring to munch his way through an apple "chocked up".

So, faced with a mildly virtuous pair opposite them at the dinner table, Mike and Number One Son resolved to eat their way through about 9 pancakes between them, with lashings of authentic Canadian maple syrup and chocolate sauce. If they aren't both sick tonight, there really isn't any justice in this world.

I'm back

...and not before time. We've had a lovely Christmas, with loads of family, music etc etc, including an amazing visit from our lovely Canadian cousin, Kerry, for Christmas itself.

Then there was lots of snow. Lots. More than Vancouver has been getting lately, certainly!

And, of course, the none-to-small matter of number one son's seventh birthday. Seven! I found myself really reminiscing about when he was first born, more than I usually do around birthdays, certainly. He's such a sophisticated little thing now - so different from the scrawny, anti-sleeping pink thing that we brought home from hospital seven years ago.
A trip was made to Think Tank in Birmingham, followed by a family tea. A good day.

So a cold but good winter so far. Really looking forward to some warmer weather and getting in to the garden, which is desperate for some attention. Roll on spring and enough of the cold stuff!!

The camera never lies....

unfortunately. A spin off from doing a big high-profile gig like Armistice Day is that you get your photo taken and then some kind soul sends you the photos. There's a reason why I don't sing in front of a mirror very often and this is it:

Not a pretty sight.

Coming up for air!

It's been a while! Loads happening over the last month so the blog hasn't been as active as it would normally.
Singing has been pretty busy, as has the day job, which is my excuse for no blog entries for nearly two months.
I did a recital last Saturday. First time I've ever held a whole concert down on my own (with the astonishingly good accompaniment of Chris Howard, of course). It went really well and I loved every second. Even managed to make a bit of money and get a spread in the local paper. All very exciting.
I've also made my debut in front of royalty, on Armistice Day at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas. Earl of Wessex was a lot better looking in real life that he is on the telly and was extremely nice to wait in the bitter cold until I finished singing to say thank you. Clearly very well brought up....
Only one more big concert before Christmas and only a couple of other much more low key gigs and then I can kick back and enjoy the yuletide festivities....

Avoiding the chopping block

As Mike was out and about today on a history trip to Tutbury Castle, the boys and I decided that we were not to be outdone. So we flexed our English Heritage membership and went to Boscobel House, a little bit north of Wolverhampton.

A good time was had by all and even the little one eventually caught on and then told everyone that Charles II had hidden there to avoid having his head "chocked" off. The oldest tried sitting in one of the two priest holes. Not comfy and pretty dark, as the photo shows.

Only one 3 year old vs chicken-related incident threatened the general harmony and enjoyment of a lovely afternoon.

It was Harvest festival celebration at church today, complete with Harvest Bonnet Parade for the under 6s.

Loving that tractor look on number 2 son. The wobbly yellow bits certainly made him easy to spot in a crowd.
And then there was tea. We didn't quite plough the fields but we certainly scattered .... crumbs, that is.

After this, a treasure hunt and a photo of everyone baptised at Holy Trinity (or as many as could make it!), we had a little concert and all retired, feeling as though we should be chewing ears of corn and revving up our tractors! Not bad for inner-city Coventry....

Stoopid is as stoopid does.....

I think that silly evenings in with the boys are seriously underrated. We decided to dress up and do a bit of disco-divaing yesterday. Here are the results...

In a year's time.....

....we'll be merrily dancing the night away at my sister-in-law's wedding.

How excting!

Procrastination

I've been painting the hall stairs and landing recently. The hall I did pretty quickly so as not to cause too much disruption but the landing has lingered. Mainly because, having done all the walls, I only had the woodwork left to do. I think the moment I started to lose interest was when I looked at the landing and counted 15 uprights on the bannister, as well as the rail itself, 2 loft hatches and 6 doors and door frames to gloss. Yes, I think that I can pinpoint it to then.

It's safe to say that I like the effect of nicely finished gloss but hate with a passion the process of getting there. Give me wallpaper or painting walls any day. Gloss takes too long and I always end up with something stuck in it (often carpet or my own shirt) and it has to be rubbed down all over again.

However, I'll persist and I will finish the job. It's just a shame that, as we've used the same colours as before and are just freshening it up, nobody will notice any difference.....

When only daddy will do....

At least he got his coat to match. Not sure about the cap and water bottle....

Down to earth

We've been back in Blighty for a few days now and I've just about come around the fact that I do have to go back to work and earn a living again! I've had a very relaxed couple of weeks and it feels like it's just too much to ask to make me go back to work just yet... However I dutifully made my way to the office this morning and was greeted with 200 emails and a slightly scary to-do list.

I'm actually considering doing away with my signature lists of stuff to do. As good a tradition as they might be, sometimes it's time for a change. Trouble is, I can't think of the non-traditional way of making sure I don't forget anything...

Good stuff has happened in the time we've been off work, though. My sister-in-law and fiance have set the date for their wedding (September next year - not long in wedding planning terms!!!). They also held a great party yesterday to celebrate being engaged and having their house, if not their new kitchen (long story and a sore point, I think it's fair to say). Three new babies have been born in our group of friends at church and another is imminent. And the building work started on my folks' house in France just as soon as we left it in peace - a new bedroom and bathroom will await us next time we're over there.

The other big news is that my parents have finally organised their joint 60th birthday party, which has been a while coming. I need to get some bowling practice in on the Wii as they're planning a skittles evening and I can feel the competitive juices flowing already.....

Things you learn whilst on holiday....

1. maps are better than sat nav. Any day of the week.
2. children have astonishing stamina, even when it's 10pm, if provided with enough stimulation.
3. it's amazing how much cheese and wine can be consumed before the onset of illness.
4. feet can burn. Particularly if they're the one bit that you forget to put suncream on.
5. sand gets everywhere...

Au revoir

So it's au revoir to John and Shirley-Anne, who moved on to the next stage of their holiday today. We've had a lovely, if scarily quick, week with them and have promised not to leave it another year before we see them again.